POLITICIANS

You are people with a sense for remembrance, sensibility and creativity – and this in a place which is so important for Poland. Stay strong, because we need you a lot.

The IYMC in Oświęcim/Auschwitz is an extraordinary institution. I want to stress, that this institution was built together by Germans and Poles – therefore she is a special symbol.

With great interest i took my time to get to know the work of the IYMC – a place for civic education of youths and a forum for international exchanges. This important initiative also corresponds with the work of the European Parliament, which has the goal of linking the tragic past with the future.

Thank you for reaching out with your hands. I also wish to thank you warmly for you testimony, because thanks to you for the next centuries to come we will keep in mind what happened in Auschwitz.

Here knowledge can be joined with an optimistic vision of the world, that this gruesome experience at the same time also is an obligation to a better and happier life.

The testimonies – those from the former prisoners but also those of the youths – were very moving. They are an evidence for the importance of the IYMC, as a place of remembrance about the Holocaust and also for the role it plays in the motivating of people ,totake a stand up actively against unhuman behaviours now and in future.

YOUTH

Four years of cooperation with the IYMC have shaped me quite a bit. No matter where I will once live and what profession I will have, I will always be able to say that the IYMC was and is my second home.

For a long time I’ve been looking for a place where I can broaden my knowledge about the world –that’s how I came to the IYMC. I managed to overcome my prejudices. I will never forget those meetings

We think we are cosmopolites, but we know so little about this world. The events at the IYMC have opened my eyes…

Here the way i see the world was shaped. I think the history courses in school should also be run like that.

I have internalised it once and for all- no matter the nationality, skin colour, religious or political beliefs- every Person has certain rights, which have to be respected. Violating these rights leads to tragedies like Nanking, Ruanda or Auschwitz.

Even if you can’t possibly retain everything we discussed as a group during our talks, still a lot stayed in my head. The participants and the atmosphere during our exchange in the IYMC will remain unforgotten.

I had the possibility to thoroughly investigate the relationship between the individual and might. This motivated me to engage myself in taking an active stand for upholding human rights.